Hand-held stranded wire dressing tool

ABSTRACT

A hand-manipulative tool having a pair of jaws biased to a closed position and manually operable by thumb pressure and the jaws having a channel receptive of the splayed ends of a stranded wire by means of which the strand ends may be closely interwound by twirling the tool.

PATENTEDnuv 2 3 as?! Wallace 0. Anderson FIG-3 FIG-4 llnited States Patent Wallace Q. Anderson East 1203 Gordon, Spokane, Wash. 99207 832,129

June 11, 1969 Nov. 23, 1971 Inventor AppL No. Filed Patented HAND-HELD STRANDED WIRE DRESSING TOOL 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 140/123.

140/ l 49, 29/203 H Int. Cl B2lf 7/00 Field olSearch 140/] 17,

118. 121, 123,124, l49;29l203I-l [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,898,952 8/1959 Lovecky 140/124 3.065,?73 l 1/1962 De Vries 140/149 Primary E.taminer- Lowell A. Larson Attorney-Norman H. Huff ABSTRACT: A hand-manipulative tool having a pair of jaws biased to a closed position and manually operable by thumb pressure and the jaws having a channel receptive of the splayed ends of a stranded wire by means of which the strand ends may be closely interwound by twirling the tool.

HAND-HELD STRANDED WIRE DRESSING TOOL My present invention lies in the broad field of hand tools and is more precisely defined as a hand-held tool for dressing the end portions of stranded wire.

It has been widely accepted that impedance to electrical current flow over a wire is inversely proportional to the size or gauge of the wire. Furthermore, it has been shown that this impedance is not so much due to the cross-sectional area of the wire as it is to its external surface. Therefore, in many applications twisted plural strands of wire are frequently used to minimize the impedance and also the physical size of the wire required to accomplish the desired function.

Stranded wire is desirable from the viewpoints of cost analysis, ease of manipulation and weight per foot in tension lines, but particularly so in sound systems where the output potential is relatively small at its source; thus to minimize line drop at remote speakers and still utilize small lines, stranded wire is preferred.

Customarily, a technician will strip the insulation from the end of stranded wire and then with the splayed strands between this thumb and forefinger, twist successively until the end is dressed, that is, with the strands tightly intertwisted to the minimum circumferential size that will accommodate all of the strands. This dressing usually required from four to six successive twisting movements of the hand for each wire end, alternately grasping and releasing for each twist.

Not only does this cause discomfort to the technician when several hundred wire ends must be dressed during the course of an installation, but also the seemingly short periods of time expended each time when added together can make a difference of from I to 2 hours more time spent in an 8-to-l6- hour job.

It has been tried to hold the splayed ends while the wire body is twirled between the fingers of the opposite hand but this is not effective except with very short pieces of wire which have the opposite end free to rotate. One usually finds the wire leading from a spool or out from an opening in a structure which prevents the said twirling of the wire.

The principle object of my present invention lies in the provision of a hand-held manually operated tool admirably adapted to dress the ends of a stranded wire with a single continuous twirling movement of the tool effected with one hand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire-dressing tool of the type described which is comprised of a minimum number of parts which may be assembled with facility and thus a tool that is relatively inexpensive.

Yet a further object of my invention is to provide a tool which is manually actuable that greatly reduces the time required to dress the splayed strand ends of a wire and thus reduce the cost and time expended in making electrical installations which require many wire connections.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent and meaningful during the course of the following specification when considered in association with the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is graphically illustrated. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It should also be understood that various changes in construction may be resorted to in the course of manufacture without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention which is to be understood only in accordance with the appended claims. Furthermore, it is to be understood that while the invention is described in one particular association, it is not my intention to unnecessarily limit the applicability of the invention, but I desire to reserve to myself the claimed invention for every use of which it is now known or subsequently discovered to be susceptible.

Other advantages and features of this invention will become apparent from the more detailed description following in which like reference numerals are employed to designate similar parts in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my tool oriented with a wire end that has been dressed thereby;

FIG. 2 is a side view partially in fornent and partially in elevation;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation showing the fornent jaws; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective of the free ends of the jaws and showing a modified channel having a portion in each aw.

Referring now with a greater degree of particularity to the drawings, it will be seen that I provide a tool, small enough for a technician to carry in a pocket, and easily manipulated with one hand, which has a pair of fornent jaws 10 and 12 which are capable of movement to juxtaposition as shown in full line and away therefrom as shown by dotted line in FIG. 2.

For ease of manufacture, I have formed the jaw I2 integrally with and axially extending from a spindle shaft 14, which is preferably cylindrical in shape; or, it may be nearly so, to facilitate twirling between the fingers and thumb as the hand is manipulated to cause the shaft to roll. The jaw 12 may be formed by milling or cutting away for a specified axial portion one-half of the shaft thus retaining a semicylindrical jaw 12.

The other jaw 10 is comprised of a hollow semicylindrical portion 16 substantially of the same length as jaw 12 and a fillet 18 is tack-welded or otherwise removably secured therein to provide a flat face 20 which superposes the flat face 22 of jaw 12 at the juncture 24 of the pair of jaws. At its inner end, jaw 10 has an integral angular lever 26 which a thumb button 28 is secured. Spaced depending and laterally aligned ears 30-30 receive therebetween the body of the spindle shaft I4 adjacent to its juncture with jaw 12 and pin 32 extends through aligned bores in the cars 30 and spindle shaft 24 to pivotally interconnect the jaws 10 and 12 for tilting movements in a plane common to the axis of the jaws and spindle shaft.

At 34, spindle shaft 14 is milled to form a groove adapted to receive and hold a recurvate leaf spring 36 which yieldably biases the jaws into juxtaposition. However, when one applies pressure to the thumb button, the spring can be flexed and the jaws opened to receive the splayed strands of a wire 17. When the thumb pressure is released, spring 36 closes the jaws upon the wire end 18. The tool is then rotated or twirled as indicated by arrow 15 and this dresses the wire end 19 by reason of the strands being confined in the axially cylindroidal channel 40 which is adapted to receive the tightly interwound strands in very close tolerance. In fact, it can be slightly small so the jaws will not fully close by reason of the tightly interwound strands of the wire end 19 disposed in the channel 40 holding them apart.

In FIG. 4 I have shown that the channel 40a may be divided equally or unequally between the faces 20 and 22 of the jaws, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States the following:

1. A hand-held tool for dressing stranded wire ends, comprising:

a pair of fornent jaws moveable to and from juxtaposition;

at least one said jaw having at its juncture with the other jaw an axial cylindroidal channel adapted to receive in close tolerance the tightly spiraled strands of a wire end; and

a manually rotatable spindle shaft fixed to rotate said jaws about the axis of said channel.

2. The invention according to claim I wherein means yieldably biasing said jaws to juxtaposition are provided.

3. The invention according to claim I wherein one said jaw is an integral axial extension of said spindle shaft; and

the other said jaw is pivotally interconnected with respect to its companion jaw inwardly spaced from their free ends and on an axis athwart of the axis of said channel, for tilting movements in a common plane toward and away from each other.

4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein means yieldably biasing said jaws to juxtaposition are provided.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein:

said pivoted jaw has a thumb lever adapted to move said jaws away from each other when force sufficient to overcome said biasing means is manually applied thereto.

juncture of the jaw and the lever disposed one at each side of said spindle shaft, and

a pivot pin extending through said ears and spindle shaft,

whereby to form said pivotal interconnection.

8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein:

said channel is defined with a portion in each said jaw.

t t i k 

1. A hand-held tool for dressing stranded wire ends, comprising: a pair of fornent jaws moveable to and from juxtaposition; at least one said jaw Having at its juncture with the other jaw an axial cylindroidal channel adapted to receive in close tolerance the tightly spiraled strands of a wire end; and a manually rotatable spindle shaft fixed to rotate said jaws about the axis of said channel.
 2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein means yieldably biasing said jaws to juxtaposition are provided.
 3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein one said jaw is an integral axial extension of said spindle shaft; and the other said jaw is pivotally interconnected with respect to its companion jaw inwardly spaced from their free ends and on an axis athwart of the axis of said channel, for tilting movements in a common plane toward and away from each other.
 4. The invention according to claim 3 wherein means yieldably biasing said jaws to juxtaposition are provided.
 5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein: said pivoted jaw has a thumb lever adapted to move said jaws away from each other when force sufficient to overcome said biasing means is manually applied thereto.
 6. The invention according to claim 5 wherein: said biasing means is a spring disposed to impart closing force between said jaws.
 7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein: the pivoted jaw comprises an axially elongated hollow semicylindrical body at one end, forming said jaw, an angularly disposed lever at the other end, forming said thumb lever, and a pair of laterally spaced ears at the juncture of the jaw and the lever disposed one at each side of said spindle shaft, and a pivot pin extending through said ears and spindle shaft, whereby to form said pivotal interconnection.
 8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein: said channel is defined with a portion in each said jaw. 